This page is composed of extracts from the Budgerigar
Society's Powerpoint
presentation "Budgerigars for Beginners". (Some of the pictures
shown here have now been replaced on the full presentation). Of necessity, we cannot include
here all the features, subjects and detail which appear on the Powerpoint
presentation itself, which is now obtainable from the Budgerigar
Society's Office on Compact Disk, and can be viewed on any computer where
Powerpoint is installed.

If, like me,
you are on "pay as you go" rather than broadband, the images may take some
time to load. I would therefore suggest that you read the script before
looking again for the pictures - hopefully, they are worth waiting for !

We hope that the CD will be of help to all who
are considering taking up this fascinating and rewarding hobby, and also to
Area & local societies: in fact to anyone who is interested in either
finding out for themselves, or including this presentation in stands at
events such as Agricultural or Horticultural shows - anywhere where the
general public congregate - to help people learn more about why WE breed
budgerigars.

Hopefully this, and the CD will be of help
in this aim. If YOU have any suggestions as to how this page, or the CD
itself, may be enhanced, or suggestions about how we can "spread the word"
better, please contact the society's office.

Budgerigar
breeding remains one of the most popular small livestock fancies
in the world, because it can be carried out by folk from all
walks of life, with stock ranging from a few pairs, upwards.
There is no real upper limit.

Whether you are attracted to the idea of
keeping only an ornamental aviary, breeding for pets, or going
on to enjoy the full range of the hobby’s attractions by showing
your birds alongside fellow fanciers, you will be welcomed into
your local society, membership of which will enhance your
enjoyment.

********************

The
Fascination of the Hobby

There is no real substitute for the thrill one derives from keeping livestock,
and we budgerigar fanciers believe that we have selected the
best small livestock hobby that there is.

•

•

Following the progress of your own breeding pairs as they produce their
eggs, their successful hatching and the rearing of the chicks is
a particularly rewarding experience.

•

.

The next slide illustrates this

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What you will Need

•Suitable
housing, that is, a shed, outhouse or spare room, preferably with
natural and artificial lighting

•

•At
least three pairs of birds, with spare hens

•Breeding
cages to house them, if using this method

•

•All
necessary feeding substances and equipment

•

•Time,
patience, diligence and a sense of humour

•

•

Friends and colleagues in the fancy, and as soon as possible – join
your local society, for a start, and preferably
before you spend too much in setting up !

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Suitable Housing (1)

A “Shed”– This birdroom was built and erected by the folk at
the Washington Multi Purpose Centre, Tyne & Wear, which works with
disabled folk. It was stocked with birds donated by Sunderland BS
members.

As you can see, it is both ornamental and
practical and could easily hold more breeding cages, if required.

************************************************************

The next
pictures show another good example of a small aviary, this time built by and for someone
who was setting up in budgerigars as a hobby for the first time –
very much in the same way as thousands of fanciers have started

•

This
aviary is 9'
x 6', set on second-hand paving slabs, and is built from new
materials, inside and out. The fancier reckons his total outlay was
about £500, but that this would have been considerably less if he
had used reclaimed timber, and less still had he converted an
existing shed . There is an inside view of this aviary further on in
this page.

•A
leaflet describing the construction of the aviary is available from
the Budgerigar Society’s office.

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Suitable Housing (2)

Outhouse-It might be an old coal house, wash
house, unused garage – in fact any small outhouse which is upwards of 6
feet square in size

Spare
room –If you have a room in your house which is not
in use, it can be adapted to become a very useful (and usually
generously-proportioned) birdroom/aviary.

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Equipment(1)

Cages come in all manner of shapes and sizes
and are constructed from a wide range of materials. The main
consideration is that each cage is large enough to give your birds the
space and comfort they need while confined there.

They
can be built into the main structure, or be individual cages which can
be lifted around, as required for repairs, cleaning, re-painting, etc.

To
the right,
we see a block of cages built into a fairly small
aviary. This will be seen as an ideal start by some, but
it is only just completed and the fancier is
already planning an extension, (for which he had made
some provision when planning this structure - a very wise thing to do !!

Flights

Our birds should
not remain confined to cages, however
large, except when it is necessary, for example in controlled breeding
in the breeding season; they need to be able to fly when possible- so
flights are an important part of our equipment, whether outside and open
to the elements, or inside the birdroom itself.

Most fanciers agree we should aim to have the perches as
far up from the floor as is possible, to increase the strengthening exercise
the birds derive every time they fly up and down to feed, then
return to the perch.

If space is really limited, it may be possible to
arrange things so that the flight is not in place all year, but
dismantled when most birds are caged for the breeding programme.

BREEDING/STOCK CAGES

As, during the breeding
season, some of our birds will be confined to
cages for a considerable length of time, it is
important that we ensure that the cages are as
large as possible to allow
our birds some
opportunity to take essential exercise.

The breeding cage is
usually equipped with nest box, seeddispenser,
soft food dish, finger drawer (on perch) and
drinker. An iodine-impregnated calcium block, to
provide essential minerals, etc, (particularly
to the hen) is usually offered as well, although
some fanciers still off Cuttlefish or
alternative sources of Calcium.

***************************************************

Friends and Colleagues

•Perhaps
not completely essential to budgerigar keeping
and breeding, but it is more enriching by far to
share your pastime with folk with similar
interests.

This picture, taken
at a meeting of the Sunderland
Budgerigar society includes one of the
society's newest members, Paul Burke,
who is now the secretary, with two
members who joined the society in 1958
on either side of him.

The scene is
typical of the make-up of many of our
smaller societies. A happy spirit of
comradeship prevails and new members are
therefore readily received and welcomed.

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Colony Breeding (1)

•This
method is probably the nearest that we can provide have to the wild
environment in that the birds are encouraged to breed as
a colony, selecting their own mates.

•It is not, of course of
much help of those who breed for exhibition or to
produce specific colours of birds, as these fanciers
need to make their own selections in order to form their
kind of stud.

•Colony
Breeding can, however be a highly successful, low
maintenance, method ofbreeding birds for pets and an added interest to
an ornamental aviary

•Normally
colony breeding begins in Spring with the
introduction of nest boxes to the flight, which
should be a minimum of 6 feet x 4 feet in size
(183cm x 122 cm) to accommodate four pairs.

•It
is important to ensure that there are equal
numbers of cocks and hens and for four pairs,
you should supply at least 8 nestboxes,
preferably identical in design and sited at the
same height, so as to minimise the possibility
of squabbling over one particular box.

The picture alongside shows the aviary, seen earlier
, which would also be suitable for
colony breeding, especially if it was
not used for this pursuit
until late spring and summer.

The main part of the
shed would then be used to house
spare birds as well as perhaps trying
one or two pairs on
the Control Breeding system.

There are
obviously many ways in which this
structure
could very easily be adapted, to meet a
variety of needs.
For example, the main entrance to this
aviary is in the end (left-hand side – not shown on this
picture) and
would benefit from a simple safety porch
over the entrance, to avoid accidental losses.

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Feeding
(1)

A constant supply
of seed is
particularly important to the likes of budgerigars, which need a
continual source of food to provide the energy that helps keep them
healthy in body and spirit.

There are many good seed mixtures on
the market; these can be bought in 25kg sacks or, for those with only a few
birds, in smaller quantities from their local pet shop.

A range ofBuckton’s seeds for budgerigars, prepared after consultation
with, and for, the Budgerigar Society can be obtainedfrom
any oneof a numberof stockiststhroughoutthe
country.

It is as well not to keep
changing the seed you use – better
to let your stock get used to good seed from one reliable
dealer.

•Many
fanciers still successfully rely purely on a staple diet of seeds
for their birds, stating that there is no need for supplements, but
most breeders still like to offer an egg-based, dampened mixture to
their birds during the breeding season.

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Watering

Not quite as obviously important as the
seed, because there is always a certain amount of water
available to our birds through the food we give them.

•Budgerigars
are originally desert animals, and do not normally ingest
large quantities of water.

•It is,
nevertheless, important that they have a supply of clean,
fresh water to visit whenever they wish.

Again,
always use water from the same source if possible, as some
birds react badly to a change of supply.

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Lighting

•Those
folk who keep only a few birds in an ornamental aviary,
and perhaps breed a few chicks in this environment may
decide that they can rely on natural lighting and let
their birds breed according to the natural lengthening
of the days.

•However,
many breeders supply the pet market, to try to produce
certain colours of birds, or breed for show birds, so
need to breed birds earlier in the year. In these cases,
it is more than useful to have artificial light in order
to extend the daylight hours.

•Usually
this is accomplished by leading an electricity supply
into the birdroom.This also allows us to provide………..

Heating

•– an
electric heater is safest, being free from fumes.
Our birds do not, of course, usually need this
facility.
Like many other birds and wild animals, budgerigars
are capable of comfortably enduring colder weather
than we can.

In fact, those of us
who have a heated birdroom readily admit that we
provide it mainly for our comfort, to ensure that we
don’t hurry our jobs in the aviary “because it is
too cold”.

It is, nonetheless, a good idea to have artificial
heating when we have our birds breeding, so that if
a hen leaves the nest for a little longer than usual
there is a good chance that her eggs or chicks will
not become chilled.

**********************************************8

General Husbandry

•This
title could, just as easily, have been ‘Routine’,
because this is really what it is all about.
Especially for those who are intent on breeding
budgerigars either to supply the pet trade or to
produce show birds, it is vital that our birds know
that we are going to keep their food, water,
softfood(to
aid breeding birds feeding young),grit etc., in good supply.

•If
at all possible, it helps our own management if we
can arrange to complete our major birdroom tasks at
the same time of each day.

The immediate needs of the birds attended to, it is
also vital to keep your aviary clean and
tidy.(It should go without saying that all
seed pots, drinkers, etc must be kept
scrupulously clean)

•.......This
is not purely for appearance purposes.
A clean aviary also helps in the fight
against disease, and deters pests and vermin
from establishing a base in the birdroom.

•

For the same reason, it is
essential to keep a close eye on the
condition of the structure of the birdroom,
especially wooden buildings, and to ensure
that vermin in any form can not gain access.

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Ringing

•Fanciers
who are members of the
Budgerigar Society (BS) or one
of the Area Societies obtain
their own Closed Coded Rings
throughout the BS. These rings
bear the member’s personal
membership number, the year, and
rings each year are
consecutively numbered- ensuring
that no two birds wear the same
ring number!

•The
rings are fitted on the leg,
slipping over the toes, when the
chick is between five and nine
days old –leave it too late and
the ring won’t fit!

•Rings
are an excellent way of showing
the identity of the breeder and
the age of those birds, which is
very useful when buying and
selling stock.

We
therefore strongly advise anyone
who is considering buying a bird
as a pet, or to breed pets to
ensure that any bird they buy is
wearing and Official Closed
Coded ring - preferably one
bought through the Budgerigar
Society - or even through one of
the other national organisations

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Exhibiting

•Many of
us like to show our birds and shows range from small cage birds
sections at local horticultural and agricultural shows, to the World
Show of the Budgerigar Society, held in Doncaster (pictures on the
next slide), where the best birds in the country compete for the
major awards.

•The
Budgerigar Society secretary brings the society’s stand, as do most
of the main Area societies.

•The
Club show has taken place in the middle of November for many years,
and this show gives fanciers the chance to pay their subscriptions
and order rings for the coming year.

•Another
highlight of Budgerigar Society’s Club Show is found in the trade stands
which selling foodstuffs, additives and equipment. These stands add to
the interest of any show

•The
main reason for showing birds is to enable us to compete and at the same
time mark our own progress in improving our birds.

•On
top of this, it allows us to mix with fellow
fanciers, attending seminars, making new friends, renewing
acquaintanceships, exchanging news and views and enjoying some of the
light-hearted competitions which take place.

•Progress
through the sections from starting out to the Champion status is
achieved on a basis of time and the level of success on the showbench,
so no-one can 'get out of their depth'.

•There
are “Any Age” classes for birds over a year old and also “Young Bird”
classes for birds bred by the exhibitor and wearing the exhibitor’s own
closed ring, issued through the Budgerigar Society.

Any Other Colour (this category includes
a number of other, specific, varieties.

The Colours

The Light Green is the normal colour
of budgerigars in their natural habitat – mainly
Australia. All other varieties, illustrated in the
following slides, have sprung from these.

Mutations that appear in the wild are
few and far between and are quickly lost, because the
chances of, say, two blue budgerigars meeting are
remote .

Careful selection of mates is
needed to “fix”
any new colour, and this is how so many of the varieties
shown on the slides which follow these Greens have been
established.

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Conclusion

•

Thank you for taking the time to look at this
presentation, and we hope that it has been of interest to you. This text
only 'scratches the surface' of the subject of budgeriars - after some
47 years in the fancy, the writers are still learning !

•If
you wish to obtain a copy of the full presentation, which also has other
features, and/or to otherwise find out more about our fascinating hobby,
please contact :-